Posts Tagged ‘Labour Market’

While this has not been uploaded online as of yet, I am very heartened to read the following Press Release From Michael Keenan MP, Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations sent to me by Senator Alan Ferguson’s staff in response to my Open Letter to all Coalition MP’s and Senators:

Thursday, 12 March 2009

Government must amend job destroying sections of Fair Work Bill

Rocketing February unemployment figures released today should be a wake up call to Julia Gillard.

Julia Gillard is either completely out of touch or misleading the Australian people on the effects the Rudd Government’s Fair Work Bill will have on jobs.

“My office has been inundated with phone calls and letters from small businesses – the backbone of
employment throughout Australia ‐ pleading with the Coalition to push for amendments which will fix the job destroying parts of the Fair Work Bill,” said Mr Keenan.

“Julia Gillard’s workplace reforms take us back to the days of union dominance and forced high wages at the expense of jobs”.

“Businesses don’t want to lay off their staff. Their people are their business,” said Mr Keenan.

“The Rudd Government just doesn’t get it. They are introducing retrograde workplace laws in the middle of the Rudd Recession, which are going to put even more Australians out of work.

We accept the global financial situation is causing a contraction of employment.

What we don’t accept is the Rudd Labor Government exacerbating the situation with the job destroying parts of their Fair Work Bill,” said Mr Keenan

I write to you out of deep concern regarding the Coalition’s position on Julia Gillard’s euphemistically titled “Fair Work” legislation. Indeed, the naming of such legislation “Fair Work” can only be described as Orwell at his finest – a far more apt term would be the “Job-Killing Act of 2009”. As a young Australian, I am deeply troubled about my future prospects in life if you allow Labor to get away with this radical, highly ideological legislation with Coalition support.

There can be no doubt that the Coalition needs to move beyond the WorkChoices legacy. A new narrative needs to be framed, whereby the Coalition embraces the rights of workers, and adopts a forward thinking position without dwelling on the past.

In its rush to distance itself from the WorkChoices legacy, however, I fear that the Coalition is embarking upon a course that is not only contrary to the fundamental values that underpin the Liberal and National Parties – those of individual freedom, small government and free markets , a course that not only sacrifices long-term political success for short term political expediency, but far more insidiously, a course that sells out future generations of Australians.

There is no doubt that if enacted, this legislation will cause massive disruption to the Australian economy. Businesses will be forced to stop hiring, and the economy will contract. The Costs of production will spiral, hurting consumers, and forcing many businesses to shut down. As a result, unemployment shall skyrocket – by some estimates up to 15%. Particularly affected would be my generation – locked out of the labour market and forced onto the downward spiral of welfare dependency.